The Back of the Closet
by dervishspin
Summary: Post X2 Challenge fic. I was given the first line and had to come up with the rest of the story. Artie, Peter, Rogue, Kitty and Nightcrawler wake up some place strange.


            He went to sleep under a light wool blanket and a crisp white sheet, sprawled alone in his bed, but he woke elsewhere--in the darkness at the back of the large foyer closet, behind concealing coats and jackets.

            Artie struggled to his feet, heart hammering in his chest. The coats were slippery.  He was afraid to hang on to them too tightly because he could feel the wire hangers bend and twist on the pole as he moved.  He did not know what he was doing in the back of the foyer closet, but it was freaking him out. 

            _Don't panic.  Don't panic_. Artie repeated the mantra to himself.  Perhaps he had only sleepwalked his way into the closet.  Dani sleepwalked sometimes.  Mr. Summers had found her once in the TV room watering the plants at three o clock in the morning, and afterwards she had not remembered what had happened.  John had teased her about it for weeks. Perhaps sleepwalking was catching. 

            But what if it was Stryker again?

            He pushed through the coats to what he hoped was the front of the closet.  He would listen at the door before he opened it just to make sure, and then he would go back to bed, and not tell anyone what had happened. 

            Suddenly it was light.

            As the coats slipped away from his face Artie found himself standing outside in the middle of a pine forest.  Snow crusted the trees and the ground in billowy confectioner sugar drifts. Distant pinpricks of light between the tops of the trees told him that it was night. The light came from an elaborate wrought iron lamppost situated directly in front of him. 

            Artie started about him in wonder. He knew he should be frightened, but he just wasn't anymore.  He was cold though.  He turned around. He could still see the back of the closet standing behind him, and the coats on racks hanging in the middle of the pine forest.  It looked odd. Shrugging philosophically he reached up and pulled one of the coats off the hanger and put it on. The sleeves hung down past his hands and the bottom of it dragged in the snow.  He still had nothing on his feet, but the rest of him was warmer. 

            Being careful to keep the back of the closet in sight the whole time, Artie shuffled a little further out into the forest.  The air was crisp and cleaner than anything he had ever felt. He took a deep breath, feeling it sear its way deep into his lungs.  

            There was a sound behind him. 

            Artie whirled around to face it. 

            There was a man standing underneath the lamppost, holding an umbrella, with a package in his arms.  He had waistcoat and jacket with a little bow tie and a red scarf thrown around his neck. No.  Artie looked again, it was not a man.  The bottom half of him was a goat, with cloven feet and a long spade shaped tail. The top of him had yellow eyes, fanged teeth and horns on the top of his head.  And he was blue. 

            Artie finally recognized him, even though he was dressed strangely and someone had given him horns. It was the new teacher, Mr. Wagner.

            "Artie." Mr Wagner sounded relieved, "What are we doing here?"

            Artie did not speak. That was a choice he had made early in his life. His forked tongue made coherent speech almost impossible, despite years of physical therapy.  If it were not for the power of his mutation he would have to communicate solely through signing. 

            Instead he concentrated and a series of three-dimensional images appeared in the air between them.  Images of Artie waking up in the closet, him looking around wildly, then him pushing his way out into the light to stand under the lamppost. The last image faded from the air in a spray of dwindling light. 

            "Ja," Mr. Wagner said, "I woke up standing here, dressed in this ridiculous way, and then I saw you."

            There was the sound of a thump from the closet behind them and muttered swearing.

            Faster than thought, Mr. Wagner grabbed Artie, curling him into his arms, and teleported.  

            Artie had _bamfed _with Mr. Wagner before so he was not afraid. For a moment there was the blackness of the space in between where they were and where they were going, and then the two of them were clinging to the top of one of the nearby trees, struggling not to make a sound or to drop any more of the snow from the now shaking branches. 

            The umbrella and the package that Mr. Wagner had been carrying were lying on the ground.

            There were more sounds from the closet.  An outraged shriek followed by more thumping.  The coats rustled violently and then parted.  Peter, Rogue and Kitty stumbled out of the closet into the light under the lamppost. 

            "Ow," Kitty complained, "Peter you stepped on my foot!" The big Russian mumbled an apology.

            "Where are we?"  Rogue breathed

            The three of them looked around themselves. Peter noticed Artie and Mr. Wagner first, stepping back a pace in astonishment.  Mr. Wagner waved sheepishly from the top of the tree, "Hello.  We'll be right down."

            A teleportation later Artie and Mr. Wagner were standing in front of the three older students. 

            "What are you doing here," Peter asked them.

            "We got here first," Mr. Wagner said impishly, "What are you doing here?"

The boy looked confused, "I don't know."

            "Where are we?" Rogue repeated.

No one had an answer to that.

            "What's this?" Kitty asked, kneeling down and picking up the package.  Mr. Wagner picked up the umbrella, examined it curiously and then closed it.  

            Artie quickly showed them images of the first moment of seeing Mr. Wagner with the package and then him dropping it when they teleported to the top of the tree.

            Kitty handed it back to Mr. Wagner, "But I don't know what it is either," he protested.

            "You look weird, Mr. Wagner.  I mean, uh, different than you usually do," Rogue amended hastily, "What happened to your head?"  And she touched the top of own head with her hands miming horns.

            Mr. Wagner felt the top of his head and his face filled with dismay, "I don't know."

            "Open the package," Kitty suggested.  "Perhaps there is a clue in there."

            Mr. Wagner cut the string and unfolded the brown paper wrapping.

            "It's just a pair of shoes," Kitty said, disappointed. 

Artie made a rare sound of happiness.  His tennis shoes!  There was even a pair of socks.   He sat down on the edge of the closet and put them on, grateful for the warmth. 

"Is this a dream," Rogue asked wonderingly.

Peter's eyes narrowed, "If it was that would explain why Mr. Wagner looks so strange. But why would he be carrying a pair of Artie's shoes?

Artie rolled his eyes at the older boy and then showed them an image of all of their feet, shod, and his feet without shoes.

Kitty had known him longer than the others and had more experience interpreting his images. She laughed. "Because, he was the only one without them.  That makes sense.  Dreams are weird like that."

"I don't know," Peter said doubtfully. "This is the most vivid dream I've ever had."

Rogue rubbed her arms, shivering, "Me too."

Peter began distributing coats out of the closet.  They were all chilled.  The light from the lamppost was cold comfort in the dark forest.  Artie traded his coat to Peter for a smaller one.  The new one still covered his hands, but at least he could walk without dragging the hem on the ground.  On Peter it didn't even reach his knees. 

"Listen," Mr. Wagner said abruptly.

There was the sound of scurrying coming from the edge of the circle of light and abruptly a pair of beavers stumbled into the light.  Artie felt his eyes widen in shock.  The beavers were wearing coats and hats.

"Run!" hissed the male beaver; if the tie he was wearing were any indication of his sex.  "The White Queen is coming.  Run!"  
            "Mr. Beaver," exclaimed the other beaver, "I think these are Sons of Charles and Daughters of Moira."

Mr. Beaver squinted up at the group, "I do believe you are right, Mrs. Beaver.  Well, with the exception of Mr. Wagner.  Hello Mr. Wagner!"

Rogue turned to the startled Mr. Wager, "You know them?"

"No, I hav never seen them before in my life."

Kitty gripped Peter's hand, "Oh my God,' she whispered, "Talking beavers. This must be a dream."

Mr. Beaver was still talking, "But that means it's even more important to run.  You must run now. Listen!"

The group fell silent and the sound of jingling bells could be heard ringing through the crisp night air.

"The White Queen is coming!" hissed Mrs. Beaver, "Hide!"  
            The group scrambled to find hiding places.  Kitty pulled Peter along by the hand and phased with him into the inside of a tree.  Mr. Wagner picked up Artie again and _bamfed_ back up to where they had been before.  Rogue, finding herself alone, made a sound like "eep!" and dived back into the closet.   The beavers scrabbled their way under the canopy of one of the pines. 

The sounds got closer.  The ringing of little bells and then, more distinct, a scraping that made Artie think of ice-skating on a pond.  

There was a gasp from the closet.

The sounds began to fade away.  Rogue flung herself from the closet and stood in the snow panting and watching what Artie could not see from his vantage up in the tree.  She looked like she was going to start running after the sound. 

"NO, Daughter of Moira!" Hissed Mr. Beaver from underneath the pine.

"It's Bobby!" She protested,  "I mean, there was a sleigh being driven by this woman in white and Bobby was sitting next to her." Then realization of the ridiculousness of her conversation settled in "Oh my god, I'm arguing with a Beaver."

"It's the White Queen," replied Mrs. Beaver firmly. "It is she who has made our world cold and dead.  For although you may look around you and see winter, today is actually May 1st.  It is her magic that keeps it always snow and ice."

Kitty and Peter phased out of the tree.  Kitty looked strained.  Artie wondered if that was the longest she had ever held two people phased at the same time.  He knew it took a lot out of her.  Mr. Wagner teleported the two of them back to the ground, so Artie only caught half of what was said next.

"…if your friend has been captured by the White Queen," Mr. Beaver said sorrowfully, "But if he has you had best forget him.  Once people have been captured by Her they are never seen again."

Artie felt a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold race down his spine.  Stryker had tried to do that to him.  To take him away and make everyone forget where he was.  If Mr. Wagner and Professor Logan and Mr. Summers and the other teachers had not come for him, he would still be in that hole in the dam.  He knew it. 

"No!" Rogue looked stricken, "We can't leave him with her.  We have to rescue him!" 

"But we'll never catch them now," Kitty said, "They're in a sleigh, they'll be miles away."

"We have to try," said Peter firmly.  Artie thought that Peter wanted another chance to prove himself.  He had been frustrated for weeks after they had all returned from Alkali Lake.  Although Professor Xavier had praised him for keeping the rest of the students safe during and after the invasion of the mansion, Artie knew Peter felt like he should have been part of the rescue force.    
            "But we don't even know if this is a dream," Mr. Wagner protested.

"If this was a dream at least we could fly after them, Kitty said wistfully. 

Artie gave an experimental hop to see if he could get off the ground.  He flapped his arms.  Nothing.  He shrugged at Kitty. 

"I am not going to stand here and debate this," Rogue snapped.  "I am going after Bobby."

The two beavers scurried around in front of Rogue and pushed her back when she started after the sleigh. The little paws only came up to her waist, "No, Daughter of Moira, No!  You can not go after her alone!"  
            "She will make you serve her will," Mrs. Beaver breathed.

Rogue looked down at them, hands already on the edges of her gloves, ready to peel them off, "Ah have ways of makin' her listen to me." Determination made her slip back into her southern drawl. 

"There is a better way," announced Mr. Beaver firmly. "They say that the Light is on the move, may perhaps have already landed."

Artie felt a curious sense of exhilaration flood him.  It was almost as if the mention of "the Light" filled him with a sense of comfort and contentment and yet excitement at the same time.  As he looked around at his friends he could see that the words had similar affects on them. Rogue looked calmer, Peter looked taller and more adult.  Mr. Wagner looked happier, as if his core of sadness had left him.  Kitty looked very brave. 

"What is "the Light," Peter asked for all of them.

"Why, the Light is the leader who has crossed over to us again." Mr. Beaver explained, "The Light has come and will set it all to right.  We were heading to join her army right now.  Come with us.  If your friend has any hope at all it will be because the Light will triumph over the evil White Queen."

"This is crazy," Rogue protested. 

 "We don't know anything about this place." Kitty said, thinking it through out loud, "If this is a dream then this makes as much sense to me as turning around and leaving through the closet."  
            "I am not leaving Bobby," Rogue repeated. 

"We also don't know anything about this White Queen or what she can do, Rogue," Peter pointed out logically. "If the Light is organizing an army to defeat her perhaps, rather than taking her on by ourselves, we should join this army."

The beavers looked horrified, "Y-you can't take her on by yourselves!" Mr. Beaver stuttered, "She has an army filled with trolls and goblins and all the bad animals of the forest. You would never survive."

"Well, there you go." Peter said prosaically, "It makes sense to ally our strength with the opposition.  I'll bet that's what Mr. Summers would advise."

"What do you think we should do?" Kitty asked Mr. Wagner.

"I agree.  That is what Scott would do."  
            Rogue looked like she was on the edge of tears, "Fine. Then lets go find this army, but lets do it now!"

"Perhaps we'll wake up first," Kitty said.

Artie went over to Rogue and took her gloved hand in his. Startled, she looked down.  He constructed an image that sprang into life between them, of Rogue punching out a pale woman with long white hair and a silver crown on her head, and then Bobby falling into Rogue's arms.

Rogue squeezed his hand in response, "Thanks Artie.  I know we'll find him, because I won't give up until we do." 

*****

The strange little party made their way through the snow-covered landscape. Although it was night, no one confessed to being tired and they pushed they're way as quickly as they could through the woods.  For a while they followed the sleigh tracks until they veered to the left at a fork in the road.  The beavers insisted that they way lay to the right, provoking another argument when Rogue insisted on following the sleigh.  The others outvoted her and, sulking, she followed them. 

It wasn't very much further before Artie saw a dim splash of color by the side of the road.  He bent down at peered at it more closely.  It was a yellow crocus, pushing up through the snow.  At first he did not say anything to the others, but when he saw the third one he stopped the party and pointed it out.  The beavers were astonished.  It had been almost three years since they had seen anything growing.  Once Artie pointed them out, others started seeing signs them too.  Mr. Wagner turned it into a game of who could find the most flowers.  He made Rogue keep score in order to distract her from thinking about Bobby.  It wasn't very long afterwards that they all noticed that it was getting light.

            With the return of the sun they stopped playing the game. Crocus gave way to daffodils and the snow began to melt away around them.

            "It's the Light," Mrs. Beaver said reverently.  "The Light has returned to our land and broken the hold of the Snow Queen."

            They began to see other animals too.  Deer and elk passed them, heading in the direction of the rising sun.  A pack of dogs surrounded them once, tails wagging and barking, before they all took off running. Once Peter caught the earthy scent of a bear just before the rest of them heard growling and crashing in the woods.  They steered clear, just in case. What was the most surreal was that the animals they saw said "Good morning!" or "Lovely Spring, isn't it?" or "Heading to join the army of the Light, are you?"  

            Just as the sun finished clearing the curve of the earth the party left the pine forest.  They entered gently rolling fields dotted with solitary oak tress and tiny wooded groves. The animals that had been passing them were converging on an enormous yew tree, with much barking and yapping, roaring and chattering and grunting as they welcomed each other and whoever it was that they had gathered around.

            There were also creatures that Artie recognized from his Legends of Greece and Rome book.  There were tall willowy creatures that looked a bit like trees, and young women whose dresses appeared to be made of flowing water.  He felt a fierce sense of joy overwhelm him, Nyads and Dyrads!  He shot a glance at Mr. Wagner who appeared to be having trouble comprehending exactly what he was seeing. Artie grinned.

            The beavers, the students and Mr. Wagner climbed the slope of the hill towards the tree.  As they did so the animals and the mythical creatures fell back from them all, murmuring, creating an avenue that led them straight to the base of the tree and who ever waited for them there. 

            Mr Wagner leaned in towards Peter, "I get the feeling someone has been expecting us."

            Peter grunted in agreement.

            A shapely woman dressed in black stood with her back towards them as they approached. She was bent down speaking to a pair of oversized rabbits who were holding clipboards and chattering about troop size and strength.  It was actually something in the way that she held herself, something in her poise, which alerted Artie, the instant before she stood up.  It was only then that he saw that she had red hair.  She turned. 

            "…Ms. Grey?" Asked Peter hesitantly, "Is that you?"

            She smiled at them and in the curve of her lips was their answer.

            Rogue and Kitty shrieked and dived into her arms, a moment behind Artie. The entire party shared an ecstatic hug, arms flailing.

"Mein Gott!" Exclaimed Mr. Wagner, "We thought you were dead!"

            "Death is just a part of life," she answered mysteriously. Somehow Artie knew that she was going to say that.

            Kitty pulled away from the hug, realization setting in, "Oh my god, we are dreaming…"

            "That is not a bad way of looking at it," Ms. Grey confirmed, "The truth is that the school is under a new kind of attack. Not a physical one, a psychic one."

Rogue stiffened,  "Bobby,"

"Yes. The intruder is controlling Bobby.  She has subdued almost everyone including Scott and the Professor.  Everyone except for you five and one other.   I don't have a lot of time to explain, so you will just have to trust me. In a moment her army is going to try to come up this field and try to take you too.  I am going to defend you, but I will need your help."

"You are the Light," Peter said, putting it together.

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

Artie patted Ms. Grey's arms and then his own.  Kitty understood immediately, "Are you real?" She asked for him.

"What is real?" Ms. Grey replied.  Artie was not comforted and he stepped back a pace from her.  

A shout came up from the animals and creatures on look out, "She's coming!  The White Queen is coming!"

"To your positions!" Shouted Ms. Grey to the animals, "Remember the battle plan!"  In remarkably little time the animals scattered in a controlled chaotic fashion, and Artie could see units forming.  They were going to make the White Queen's forces fight uphill.   Artie was certain that Mr. Summers would have approved. Ms. Grey turned to the mutants, "Ladies, you are with me.  Gentlemen I need you to provide a distraction in the center of the field. Look like a target.  Don't get caught and don't get hurt. Artie…" For the first time Ms. Grey hesitated, as if unsure.

Artie knew that he was going to ask him to stay behind the lines and stay safe. She was not going to allow him to help the others or defend himself. He spun an image for her.  In the image Artie stood in front of her, just as he was doing now.  He abruptly grew in size to be her height.  He flexed his arm muscles to show her how strong he was and he assumed the pose of a hero, hands on hips, chest pushed out, hair blowing gently in the non-existent breeze. The light glinted off his teeth in a dazzling glimmer.

She smiled at him. "Okay," she said, "Artie, you go with Peter and Kurt. Stay safe."

Mrs. Beaver decided to stay back with the women, while Mr. Beaver attached himself to their group.  As the party was breaking up Kitty leaned down to Artie to whisper to him urgently, "Be careful.  What ever you do, don't get killed.  My Bobe told me that if you die in your dreams you die in real life. I don't want to test that theory today."  Artie nodded at her in agreement, and then created an image of a four-leaf clover for her.  She nodded.  "Good luck to you too."

Artie and his team took up a position behind a group of large bears and moose. They saw the first of the White Queen's forces clear the tree line. A jumble of wolves, things that looked like goblins, weasels and very large spiders crawled out of the pine trees.  There was a rustling and a cracking and then several giants shoved their way out of the trees.  They howled at the bears, which stood up on their hind legs and roared a response.   Peter, with a sound like metal scraping over metal, turned into his organic steel self, growing in size so that he was just as tall as the bears. 

Artie changed position so that he could see around Peter. He did not know how he was going to be able to fight the army.  He did not have great agility like Mr. Wagner, and he did not have great strength like Peter.  He was just one little boy with a very non-threatening power. 

A moment later from the same break in the trees the sleigh that Rogue had described skidded into the open area and came to a complete stop.  A sleigh requires snow underfoot, and Ms. Grey's power had made this field spring and not winter at all. Artie could see Bobby sitting in the back seat of the sleigh, rigid and unmoving.  His head was flung back on his shoulders and his mouth was open in a soundless scream.

Seeing Bobby the army of the Light moved and murmured uneasily.  "That's another Son of Charles," muttered one of the moose angrily, "Look what she's done to him!" 

The White Queen was almost as exactly as Artie had pictured her; only she was wearing a skin-tight white corset and thigh high white boots.  She called out, "Give it up, Jean, they belong to me!"

Artie heard Ms. Grey laugh tauntingly in response, "Come and get them, Emma.  Give it a try."

Mr. Wagner gasped, "I know her! She's a telepath."

"She's using Bobby to control the winter!" Peter realized

Artie created an image of a female dog, but nobody saw it.

That was all the time they had, for the enemy attacked.  Faster than Artie wanted them to, the lead line of creatures stumbled up the hill and smashed into the front of the line. The bears stumbled back at first, forcing Artie to fall back or be trampled. The moose were so tall that he felt like an ant next to them.  He had to keep moving out of the way of the forest of moose legs; no one could see him.  He was frightened, but he tried to keep his head. Peter was at the front of the line, being a target the way Ms. Grey had asked.  Mr. Wagner was _bamfing_ in and out of the fray, taunting and punching and gleefully making a nuisance of himself to the enemy. Artie had already lost track of Mr. Beaver in the mêlée. He backed further away.  He knew on some level that the army of the light had to keep the advantage of the high ground or they would all be slaughtered.  He felt helpless though.  He could not tell them not to fall back, he looked around himself, and he could not tell them that the left flank was pushing too far forward.  He clenched his fists in frustration.   He heard hoof beats behind him and he swung around in fear. 

A graceful roan stallion cantered up behind him and seeing him whirl around reared back, startled, his black hooves kicking at the air, "Son of Charles," the horse neighed, "Get up on my back before you are trampled. Get up!"

Artie's jaw dropped.  A talking horse. Well, he reasoned, if beavers and bears could talk in his dream, why not a horse? 

Dani had taught him how to ride bareback, though at the stable he had a stool he could stand on to get up on the horse's back.  He did not have that here.   He backed up a step, made a running leap, and grasping the horse's mane, swung a leg over it's broad back. The horse grunted in reaction, but did not buck him off. 

"Where to, Son of Charles?" the horse asked. 

Ms. Grey had asked him to be a distraction.  Now that Artie could see over the tops of other heads, he knew what kind of distraction he could be.  He pointed to the front of the line, and edged the horse forward with his knees.   The horse complied.

Artie closed his eyes.  He wove an image between his hands.  It was of the bears at the front of the line clawing and snarling. He doubled the number of bears, then he tripled them, then reaching deep into the roots of his power he blew up the image life size.  Concentrating on refining and maintaining the image, he opened his eyes.  

The horse, eyes rolling, had stepped back from the image, "Woah!  Where did you bears come from?"  Artie had one of the bears snarl and sweep his arm in a gesture of 'attack'.  The army of the Light pressed forward. The goblins and giants fell back a few paces in light of the "reinforcements".

Artie kept that image going and twisted on the back of the horse to look back at the left flank.  They had stabilized, but the bulk of the White Queen's army was now turning to try to get to where Peter and Mr. Wagner, red scarf flying, were acting as bait.  Artie did not think that the middle could hold under the press of all those bodies.  He reached into himself again and created a second set of images.  He made copies of himself, Peter and Mr. Wagner, blew them up life size, and then sent them racing across the battle field towards the left flank, shouting and waving their arms to get the attention of the enemy.  After a moment, some of the enemy followed, and the Dryads on that flank suddenly had their hands full.  Trembling with the strain of keeping two sets of images going at once, Artie held very still, fingers woven through the mane to keep himself on the horse. 

Above him there was a scream of triumph.  Startled, Artie jerked his head up and half the bears in front of him faded from view.  A giant flaming bird, wings spread and claws extended rose up into the sky.  The bird was glowing, casting a brilliant white light over the battlefield. 

"The Light!" Roared the animals, and "The Phoenix has returned!"

Artie saw the White Queen flinch and press her fingers to her head as if concentrating.  Her attention was split between the bird and directing her forces to capture the mutants. 

At that moment Artie saw Kitty and Rogue phase up out of the ground behind the sleigh.  They sneaked forward and dragged Bobby from the sled just as the Phoenix descended.  

"NO!" screamed Emma, the White Queen, torn between three different attacks.  The talons of the bird reached out and glanced, screeching, off her diamond white skin.  

But the spell had been broken.

*****

Artie bolted upright in bed, heart hammering in his chest. He looked around himself wildly.  He was in his dorm room.  His other roommates, Neal and Leech were sound asleep in their beds.  

The walls and the floor were coated with ice.

Distantly, in the girls' wing, he could hear screaming.  He jumped out of bed and into his slippers.  Forgoing a robe, he dashed out of his bedroom towards the sound. One of the other doors opened up and Peter, dressed only in a pair of pajama bottoms lurched into the hallway.  The two of them stared at each other. 

"Did you…" Peter asked. 

Artie crafted an image of the phoenix soaring across the sky.

"You did!" Peter said, and then "Bobby!"

The two of them bolted down the hall towards the room that Bobby had shared with John before John had left to join Magneto.  The ice here was thickest, and Peter, slipped several times.  Artie had more traction in his slippers and reached the door before Peter.  He could not get it open; the ice has sealed the door shut.  Peter transformed into his organic steel form and ripped the door from its hinges. 

Bobby lay on the floor, a thick sheet of ice covering his body.  Ice spread from outwards from where he lay, climbing the floor and the walls up towards the ceiling.  Rime coated the furniture, and the sheets of his bed.  The room was cold enough they could see their breath hang in the air.  It felt like a meat locker.

Artie fell to his knees before Bobby.  Were they too late?

The iced body turned his head towards them, ice cracking "What happened?" he asked.

There was a shout from the end of the corridor, "Bobby!"  It was Rogue.  She skidded up to the door, almost fell and then stopped and stared at her boyfriend.

Eyes wide, she asked, "Are you ok?"

He looked down at himself, and then at the room.  Abruptly the ice covering him fell away.  Relieved, Rogue, rushed into his arms.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Peter said after a second, "But who was screaming in the girls' dorm?"

"Dani.  Kitty is with her.  It was her nightmare we were trapped in."

*Not quite,* said Professor Xavier's voice in their heads, *but I think I am figuring that out.*

It took most of the next day to piece together what happened. A rogue telepath, Emma Frost, had discovered their location and had tried to infiltrate and control the minds of the mutants living there.  The Professor had known about her for some time and had told the other X-Men about her, but did not believe that she posed any threat for the school "For some reason that we may never know," he said, "She did not succeed in ensnaring the minds of everyone." He gestured towards the five dreamers and Dani. "Dani's dream appeared to have protected you all and even provided an avenue, or a metaphor for fighting back."  

"I had been reading C.S. Lewis right before going to bed," she said, brushing a strand of her dark hair out of her eyes.  I don't know what happened.  Suddenly in my dream I was watching the five of you assume the story."

Artie had used his mutation to tell that story spinning the tale out between his hands for all the adults to see. 

When he got to the part where Ms. Grey appeared, the whole room got very still.  Mr. Summers leaned forward to peer at the smiling image of his fiancé.  He reached a hand out to touch her cheek, but his hand passed through the image. 

The tale concluded with the phoenix dive-bombing Emma Frost and the rescue of Bobby. Artie put his hands in his lap.  The room stirred.

"I think that if it had not been for Dani's power of dreaming and some quick thinking on the part of you five, we might have been in serious trouble."  Professor Xavier said.

Mr. Summers ruffled the hair on the top of Artie's head, "You have a tactician's mind.  We should get you into more logic, strategy and math classes." Artie rolled his eyes.  Great.  He helps save the whole mansion, and as a reward Mr. Summers decides to give him extra homework.  

Professor Logan cleared his throat, "The Jean character in the dream…." He let his voice trail away.

            Professor Xavier answered carefully, "The character in the book that Jean replaced in the dream is a Christ-like figure.  It seems logical that Dani would include a memory of Jean, a good telepath, to represent saving us all from a bad telepath."

Dani sat bolt upright on the couch and opened her mouth.  Artie kicked her, and when she looked at him, outraged, shook his head. 

After dinner that night Dani, the dreamers and Bobby quietly made their way out to the boathouse.  Dani looked like she was near tears, "I did not make Ms. Grey up.  She was there.  I even told Professor Xavier that.  I had no control over her."

"What do you mean," Kitty asked.

"I mean that she was there!  I could not have taken on Emma Frost on my own. She came to rescue us."

Bobby looked uncomfortable, "Dani, Ms. Grey is dead."

She whirled on him, "I was there, too, Bobby.  I know what happened."

"I wasn't," said Peter flatly.

"Neither was I", added Kitty, "All I know is that her body was never found."

"I think she's alive." Dani said stubbornly, "And not only that, I think Professor Xavier thinks that she's alive too."

Mr. Wagner knelt down at Dani's feet and took her hands in both of his. "I believe you Dani. Jean is alive.  She is alive in the hearts and minds of the people who loved her." Dani shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.  "If you believe in heaven, then that is where she is.  If you believe in reincarnation, then she will be born again. Personally, I believe that she is alive in Christ.  I also believe that no one who is remembered is ever truly gone.  Her memory is alive for you, and the memory of her strength protected you, protected all of us, just as she did in life." Artie was crying now too, and he swiped at his face with the back of his hand.  "I know this has been difficult for everyone, but we all must accept that Jean is gone.  Bringing up that hope to Scott, Mr. Summers, would be very cruel, even if you mean well by it."

Dani's shoulders slumped.  Mr. Wagner hugged her.  After a moment Artie did the same.  Peter and Kitty joined the hug and a moment later Bobby and Rogue leaned into the group.

Artie closed his eyes.  He felt the warmth of the other bodies surround him, a community of grief, friendship and even love.  A moment later they pulled away, and Artie allowed himself a have the last word.  He spread his hands and the image of the phoenix soaring though the sky rose up out of his palms before it faded away into the gathering dark.   

Notes:  So… as you can tell by now this is a loose Narnia/X-Men crossover.  Blame Khaki.  I read the challenge and then had an idea and had to write it down to get it out of my head, and then I had another one and another one and… A lot of this fic just kind of happened without much planning. As a result Artie is kind of an amalgam of the Artie character from X2 and Artie/ Arthur Maddicks from the comics and my own imagination.  It was my intention to include a Mr. Tumnus character from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and then Kurt just became him by accident.  Remind me never to read a fic challenge ever again.   The Son of Charles, Daughter if Moira thing is something that just flowed onto the page.  I read waaaaay too much X-Men comics and Narnia Chronicles when I was a kid.   I depicted Emma Frost wearing the outfit she had when she was drawn by John Byrne rather than the current depiction of Emma Frost of Frank Quitely and Greg Horn fame. Frankly, I hate the way she looks now.

Whew!  I need a nap. 

             __


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